What salary do you need to live in Ames, IA?

The cost side of living in Ames

Median gross rent, meaning contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities, runs $883, $992 and $1,299 a month for one, two and three bedrooms across Ames, IA. The largest of those is 47% more than the smallest.

Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in Ames, IA at $246,300. That is only 3.4× the area's median household income of $73,127, a low ratio by national standards.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Ames's overall prices at 88.8 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $112,575 would elsewhere.

The salary lines for a two-bedroom in Ames

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $27,000 for Tight, $53,000 for Okay and $107,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $54,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

The Royal grade is within reach at $268,000 a year, where both rent and the median home price look small next to income.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Ames.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Ames

At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Okay, with scores from 51 to 57.

Of the four salaries, $150,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $100,000 still lands at Okay.

Where Ames falls nationally

Out of 387 metros, Ames has the 316th highest price parity and the 300th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it in the least expensive quarter on overall prices and in the least expensive quarter on rent.

Sheboygan, WI ($993) and Cedar Rapids, IA ($991) bracket Ames on two-bedroom rent.

Ames vs. the rest of Iowa

Statewide, Iowa's median two-bedroom rent is $989 and its median home value $208,000. Ames's rent is 0% against that, and its home value +18%; the price parity is 88.8 versus 87.8 for the state.

Scored the same way, the statewide figures turn Comfortable at $96,000, so Ames needs $11,000 more than Iowa overall.

Within Iowa, the metros closest to Ames on rent and overall prices are Cedar Rapids, IA, Dubuque, IA, and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $100,000, $101,000, and $91,000.

Ames's median income on the scale

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $73,127, which grades Okay (54) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. Reaching Comfortable would take $33,873 more than the median household earns. Statewide, the Iowa median household ($75,059) grades Okay on the state's own medians. Household income can include more than one earner, so a single salary of the same size goes less far.

Treat every number here as a pre-tax, public-data estimate rather than financial advice.